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Local Heroes
The following is a long-form version of what happened in the Local Heros adventure. The Drunkards are being treated as local heroes all through the town. The townsfolk are coming up to them asking to shake their hands, offering to buy them drinks, that kind of thing. The Drunkards return to the Rusty Dragon to find a pair of messages waiting: - Sheriff Hemlock asks them to come to the town garrison - Aldern Foxglove asks them to come to Goblin Squash Stables They decide to hit up the stables first. Aldern is there meeting with Daverin Hosk, the owner of the stables, and an heretofore unknown elf. The noble has just arranged to purchase a horse for each of the Drunkards, and paid its boarding for a month. Aldern and the Drunkards use their new found steeds to go on an ultimately unsuccessful boar hunt (apparently, riding lessons were an optional course at Paladin U). Regardless of this failure, they find a farmer who recently killed a boar on his property, buy the pig off him (it was being smoked at the time) and return to town "victorious in their hunt". During the hunt, Aldern was acting a little bit odd, although his demeanor was outwardly very friendly. Maybe he was just a bit "star struck" to be in the company of "real adventurers". It's probably nothing, maybe he's just an eccentric... As their "kill" roasts at the Rusty Dragon, the Drunkards meet up with Sheriff Balor Hemlock, who asks them to come with him to investigate the graveyard. While Hemlock checks out a ladder that may have been used by the goblins to enter the town, the Drunkards investigate a burial vault that apparently was broken into. Goblin tracks, as well as at least one humanoid are seen leading to and from the vault. Clangeddin kicks down the door, only for two skeletons to immediately attack! The battle was very one-sided as Mir's rapier pierced the skull of the first skeleton with blinding force. Clangeddin knocked the other one to the ground with a mighty punch, where it was immediately dispatched by the rest of the group. Inside the burial vault, the Drunkards find that the bones of Ezakien Tobyn (who died in the fire 5 years ago) missing. They also find a discarded Robe of Bones, all its patches used up -- that explains the skeletons, and it seems that whoever stole the bones had access to magical items. While making their report to Sheriff Hemlock and the cathedral head Father Zantus, the Drunkards hear the tragic tale of how the previous church priest and his aasimar (half-angel) daughter Nualia died. Back at the Rusty Dragon, Kranks is having poor luck gambling, while Clangeddin looks on disapprovingly. Bardakus is busking, with little success. Everyone fails to notice that the elf they saw speaking with Aldern at the stable also seems to be staying at the Dragon. A local girl, Shayliss Vinder, approaches Bardakus and Rubick as she's never been with a hero before... The three go back to the store owned by Shayliss's father (Ven Vinder) and proceed to the cellar where they find a mattress and scented candles set up. As Rubick and Shayliss are breaking the mattress in, Bardakus hears someone upstairs. He warns the other two, grabs Rubick's clothes and high tails it through the cellar exit. Rubick is not far behind, and casts Grease on the stairs as he leaves the cellar and grabs his clothes from the quickly leaving Bardakus. As Rubick is frantically trying to put on the clothes, he hears Ven and Shayliss arguing (Ven, having found his daughter naked in the cellar, has figured out what she was there for, and tells her that she'll pay for this as soon as he catches the man she was with). Aided by the grease spell, Rubick is able to outrun Ven while covering his face, thus preventing him from being identified. After Bardakus and Rubick get back to the Dragon, the night is winding down when an older, well dressed man comes storming through the door, barking in some foreign language. After spotting the Drunkards (and giving them a piece of his mind on just what he thinks of troublesome adventurers) Ameiko comes out of the kitchen to see what all the fuss is about. The man is Lonjiku Kaijitsu,her father, and they immediately begin arguing about something. Eventually he storms off, and Ameiko makes a joke about how her patrons don't need to go to Cyrdak Drokkus' to see drama, and heads back to the kitchen. Mir follows and asks if everything is all right, and if there's anything he can do. She thanks him, but she says she's fine. The next day, a messenger asks them to again come see Sheriff Hemlock. They are shown directly to a meeting room where Hemlock and Mayor Deverin are meeting with an elf, Shalelu Andosana. Shalelu is a part-time mercenary, part time bounty hunter, and full time goblin hater. She occasionally passes through town to give reports on goblin activities in the lands around Sandpoint, a service which thetown greatly appreciates and for which she is generously compensated. She tells the PCs that she believes that the five goblin tribes in the region were working together to attack the town, and this has her worried. Hemlock announces that he is going to Magnimar to ask for some troops. In the meantime, Shalelu will try to learn more about the goblin threat. The Drunkards are asked to say in town for the next few days to keep the townsfolk feeling safe until Hemlock gets back. Deverin offers to compensate the drunkards 20gp each (more than most peoples' annual income) to stick around, and the Drunkards agree. That night, at the Rusty Dragon, a woman comes in, crying and clutching an infant and a four-year-old. It seems there has been a goblin hiding in the four-year-old's closet since the attack, but the parents didn't believe the child. The Drunkards rush to the woman's house, to find the family dog dead in the boy's room, along with the husband half-in and half-out of the closet door. Pulling the husband out proves that he is dead, his face lacerated with goblin bite wounds. A small hole in the back of the closet leads to a space between the walls where the goblin has apparently been lying low since the attack on the town. Mir tosses a bottle of Harpy Musk into the hole, and forces the panicked goblin out. He is knocked unconscious and bagged by the Drunkards for interrogation later. Clangeddin breaks the news of her husband to the widow (in a very direct manner) and Bardakus helps her to the town garrison to inform the authorities of what happened. Back at the Dragon, the goblin is waking up just as Bardakus gets back. The Drunkards use the good-adventurer/evil-adventurer technique to try to interrogate the goblin, but he initially isn't giving up any more information than the Drunkards already know (that the goblin tribes were working together, and that a 'longshanks' was talking with their chiefs). To enhance interrogation, Mir uses his rapier to make the goblin porous and the goblin screams and convinces the Drunkards that he doesn't know any more. Clangeddin's mighty falchion puts an end to the goblin's pain, as one swing immediately removes everything below the shoulders and above the waist of the creature. Bardakus gets an awesome point for pulling a Han Solo, flipping the maid a gold piece and saying "Sorry about the mess." He then loses that awesome point by saying "That's never happened to me before". The next morning, the maid comes to tell the Drunkards that she's worried. Ameiko has missing, and it doesn't look like she slept here last night. She found a note on the floor of Ameiko's room, an invitation from her half-brother Tsuto to meet up with her to discuss their father, and his potential involvement in the goblin attacks.